Someone To Watch Over Me (6 page)

“True,” Morgan responded as she snapped the
vanity mirror shut and flipped up the sun visor. “But maybe it
belonged to someone who works in the area.”

“You could be right.” Shawn conceded.

“How much of your business is focused on
bodyguard work?”

Shawn’s hands tightened slightly on the
steering wheel as his nerves crackled with anticipation of where
Morgan's questions might lead. On the surface, her question
appeared innocent enough, but the thought of tap dancing around her
question made his gut tighten. He loosened his grip and exhaled
slowly. “Most of the work our firm does is for events such as
concerts and conventions or we work with business security. Only a
small percentage is dedicated to personal protection.”

He shot a quick glance over to Morgan. She
had a slight smile on her lips. “Stella said you did work in the
entertainment industry.”

She paused and let the statement hang. Shawn
focused on driving. Just as he feared, her question headed into
forbidden territory. He considered how to reply. If he was too
guarded, curiosity might prompt her to probe further. After a few
seconds of silence he cast a quick look in her direction. “Yes. I
did.”

“Well?”

He turned his attention back to the road.
“Well what?”

“Any names I would recognize?”

“Yeah, a few,” He said.

“Who?”

Shawn glanced over. “Specifically?”

A playful laugh erupted from her. “Come on
Shawn, dish. Who have you gotten up close and personal with?”

Shawn's chest tightened at her choice of
words and he cleared his throat. “Honestly, I can't talk about
clients. We always sign a confidentiality agreement.”

“Oh.”

Morgan's smile faded and she leaned back in
her seat. His gut felt as if a tennis ball ricocheted around
inside. He'd shut her down and disappointed her. Her feelings
shouldn't matter. She was a client and when her stalker was
apprehended, they'd part and he'd probably never see her again. He
looked over and her brown eyes had turned serious.

“Look, I'm sorry. I really can’t discuss
prior assignments. Even if I could, there's not much to report.
Most of the time, things are downright boring.”

Morgan leaned back in her seat and began to
pull out the contract from the manila envelope. “I assume there's a
confidentiality agreement in here too.”

Her cell phone chimed and she glanced at the
number. “Brad Marshall, my ex-boyfriend.”

Shawn considered ordering her to let the call
go to voice-mail and yet Morgan looked at him with an expression
which left no doubt that she was eager to talk to him. He wondered
how long ago the breakup had taken place and what happened. If her
ex was involved, talking to him wouldn't be a good idea. The phone
rang two more times.

“Should I pick up?”

Shawn realized there was no delicate way to
deal with this. He'd just have to lay the issue out plainly. “Do
you think he is your stalker?”

Morgan shook her head. “No. The police asked
the same thing yesterday. Brad didn't do this.”

Morgan voice was confident when she denied
her ex-boyfriend's involvement. Shawn nodded. “Okay, go ahead. But
put him on speaker phone.”

“What?”

He glanced over at Morgan. The
stunned-deer-in-the-headlights expression said it all. “We have to
be sure,” he added. “I need to hear this conversation or you can
let his call go to your voice mail.”

For a brief second hurt flickered through her
eyes, then followed with a defiant gleam. “Okay. Voice-mail,” she
snapped back in reply as she dropped the cell phone into her purse.
“Really, this is a personal call. What makes you think you have the
right to eavesdrop?”

Shawn took a slow deep breath and forced his
voice to sound calm and unemotional. “You hired me to protect you
until your stalker is apprehended. I can't assume someone isn't a
suspect because you say they aren't. Ex-husbands and boyfriends are
always top suspects in situations like this. Why are you confident
he isn't involved?”

Morgan broke her gaze away from him and
stared out the side window. She fidgeted with her purse and the
tennis ball in his gut started ping-ponging around. He considered
what he could say next but Morgan spoke first. “I know Brad isn't
my stalker because he left me.”

Raw pain threaded through her voice and Shawn
tamped down the empathy that bubbled within in him. “I'm sorry
about what happened, but if you two aren't together anymore, why
would he call you?”

She shrugged. “I'm not sure. The police
wanted to talk with him about yesterday. Perhaps they did.”

Her answer made sense. “Can we play the
message now?”

Morgan glanced over at him and didn't speak
for several seconds. Finally, she sighed. “Sure. Why not?”

She brought up her voice mail and punched the
speaker phone.

“Morgan. What happened yesterday? The police
showed up at the office this morning to question me about your car
being vandalized. Are you okay? Call me.”

Morgan ended the message. “See? Does this
sound like a man who'd trash my car?”

Shawn bit his tongue to censor himself from
reminding her of the missing lingerie. He needed more information
about Morgan's ex which meant not pissing her off any further.

“What does Brad do for a living?”

Morgan flashed him a puzzled look.
“Pardon?”

“What's his profession?” Shawn asked.

“Brad's a partner at a law firm which
specializes in criminal law in downtown Phoenix.”

Shawn had to admit Brad might have motive,
but opportunity appeared to be slim. The drive from downtown
Phoenix to Scottsdale would take forty-five minutes or longer. Any
absence of several hours would be noticed.

“Call him back but let him know he’s on a
speaker phone and I'm listening.”

Morgan pressed her lips together but made no
comment as she dialed the number. Seconds later, a man's voice
spoke, “Morgan?”

“Hi Brad. Before you proceed, I need to
inform you that you're on speaker phone and I'm in the car with my
bodyguard. His name is Shawn Randall from Sonoran Security.”

There was a slight pause before he spoke, as
if the attorney had been caught off guard by her statement.
“Morgan, what happened?”

Shawn tightened his hold on the steering
wheel at the lawyer's question. The remark wasn't out of line but
the fact that Morgan's ex didn't acknowledge or introduce himself
to Shawn irked him.

“My car was vandalized. The police inquired
about relationship issues and I reported our breakup. Brad, I told
them you didn’t do this,” Morgan said.

“I glad to hear you say that. You can imagine
my amazement when they showed up here at the office.”

Shawn noted the irony in Brad's last
statement. He spoke in a measured and professional tone. Not a hint
of emotion, much less surprise, registered despite his words. Shawn
shot a quick glance over at Morgan. She stared at the phone in her
hand and appeared poised and calm but the fidgeting of her left leg
told a different tale. She glanced at him and flashed a tight
closed mouth smile.
She's nervous. No, hopeful.

“Mr. Marshall, Shawn Randall here.”

“Mr. Randall,” the lawyer acknowledged.

“Morgan's stalker has contacted her at work
and at her house. We're exploring any possible ways he gained
information on her. Could one of your firm's clients be involved
with this?”

“I don't think so.” Brad said. “Morgan didn’t
make a habit of visiting our office, so the possibility of her
crossing paths with any of them was small. I respectfully remind
you that just because our firm deals with criminal cases you
shouldn’t naturally conclude that any of them would stalk
Morgan.”

Shawn exhaled and the sides of his lips
curled in a tight forced smile. The defense attorney’s experience
came across loud and clear in his verbal counterpunch.

“Yes, I understand, but we must explore all
angles, even remote ones,” Shawn countered. “What about the firm's
staff? Can you think of anyone who could be angry with Morgan or
have a reason to harm her?”

Shawn braced himself. His question pushed the
edge of what would be appropriate to ask. He'd deliberately asked
it to provoke Morgan's ex-boyfriend and see his response.

“Mr. Randall.” The lawyer's voice dripped
with indignation. “I'm also concerned for Morgan's safety. However,
I will not let you recklessly hurl unfounded allegations about our
employees and clients. Should you choose to pursue this line of
questioning further, I would suggest you first seek legal
counsel.”

Shawn glanced over. Shock and disbelief were
written all over Morgan's face and he resisted the impulse to speak
the thoughts which roared through his mind.
Get real lady. He's
not coming back. This relationship was toast long before you
officially broke it off.

“I apologize. My interest is in helping find
out who is stalking Morgan so we can end this trying situation and
allow her to get back to her normal life. I appreciate your time
and patience in this matter.”

Brad's voice softened. “Morgan, I'm sorry
this has happened. Please take care.”

Morgan opened her mouth to reply but before
she spoke, the call disconnected. She stared at the cell phone for
a few seconds, before placing it back in her purse. “That cleared
things up,” she announced stiffly.

Shawn said nothing but chose to pretend to
concentrate on the traffic.
Yeah, clear as mud
.

***

Morgan turned away and gazed out the side
window in silence. How could she have put her life on hold these
past few months waiting for Brad to come back? She had always clung
to the hope that he'd walk into the store and apologize. He'd say
how much he missed her, and that he'd been a fool to leave. What
had she'd been thinking?

She cast a quick glance over at her
bodyguard. His aviator-style glasses hid those all too perceptive
eyes and she had no clue as to what thoughts were running through
his mind. But she was certain after this conversation he pegged her
as an idiot. She traced her fingers on the manila envelope that
held the contract.
Thank goodness for confidentiality
agreements.

After several minutes of silence, Shawn
reached down to turn on the radio when Morgan's phone rang
again.

Fishing the phone out of her purse, Morgan
glanced at the number. “It’s Stella.”

Her reflection stared back at her from shiny
mirror-like eyeglass lenses. The edges of his lips tipped up
slightly. “Go ahead and don't worry about the speaker phone.”

She flashed a smile at him. “Thanks.”

Morgan punched the call button. “Hi.”

“How are things going?” Stella asked.

“Okay.”

Her friend's casual tone shifted to concern.
“Really? You don’t sound okay.”

Morgan shot a quick glance at Shawn. “Things
have gotten interesting this morning and I really can't elaborate
now.”

Stella snorted a giggle. “He's next to you in
the car, right?”

“Yes.”

“How about both of you come for dinner
tonight?” Stella suggested.

“Let me check.” Morgan said.

She turned and gazed at Shawn as he scanned
the rearview and side mirrors. “Shawn, we've been invited to dinner
at Stella's tonight.”

He licked his lips and inhaled while he
weighed the situation. Morgan wondered if he would tell her she
couldn't go. Was he concerned about the risk to Stella?

“Sure,” he said.

“Stella, we're coming.” Morgan confirmed on
the phone. “What time?”

“Morgan, one more thing, I got a message for
Stella.” Shawn added.

“Wait a sec.” She lowered the receiver and
braced herself. What conditions would Shawn impose on her now? He
shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“Well?” Morgan asked.

He cleared his throat softly. “Tell Stella,
Matt says hi.”

Matt and Stella?
She paused. Her
friend only briefly mentioned Shawn’s business partner last year
when they worked together. Now it appeared like they were
tentatively making an effort to connect. Morgan smirked. She
brought the phone to her face. “Stella, Shawn has asked me to let
you know Matt says hi.”

Stella paused and then laughed softly. “Tell
Shawn to let Matt know I said 'hi' back.”

“Okay, will do. See you later,” Morgan
replied. She ended the call and returned the phone to her
purse.

Shawn focused on navigating the SUV through
the downtown traffic. Morgan sat back and studied him. He ignored
her but shifted in his seat. His thinly veiled discomfort reminded
her of an awkward schoolboy. She grinned. “Tell Matt, Stella says
‘hi’. So, are you going to tell me what’s going on here?”

He cast a quick glance over to her and shook
his head. “Nope.”

Morgan cocked her head slightly. “Sure about
that?”

“I think you should ask Stella.”

“Oh, I will.”

***

Shawn pulled the SUV into the side entrance
of the TV station's parking lot. He got out of his vehicle and
surveyed the area. There wasn’t anyone in sight, not even a
security guard. He walked around to the passenger door to assist
Morgan out of the car. As he took her hand he glanced at her face.
“Are you okay?”

Morgan stared back. “I'm fine. Why did you
ask?”

“Your hand is ice cold.”

She forced a small tight smile. “I'm just a
little nervous.”

Shawn squeezed her hand. “You’ll do fine.
Breathe.”

He reached behind her, shut the door and then
gently placed his hand in the small of her back as he guided her to
the entrance of the building. His fingers tingled slightly and he
tamped down the urge to caress her in a half-hearted attempt to
massage the tension away.

Morgan led them to the receptionist and
introduced herself. Within minutes the back office entrance opened
and a woman walked over to them.